An automatic monitoring technique of the seepage line, including the monitoring design, the automatic monitoring system and the backfill technique of the measuring probe of pore-water pressure, was used in a tailings dam, and a shallow refractive seismic method was investigated for obtaining the seepage line of those areas outside the monitoring zone. The results show that the automatic monitoring has the error within ±3% relative to piezometric tube method and improves monitoring efficiency greatly, and the shallow refractive seismic method has the error within ±10% but expands the area of monitoring. Both of them can be used for a daily measurement in monitoring the seepage line. The result of the automatic monitoring also shows that not only the design of the survey line and the backfill technique of the measuring probe of pore-water pressure are reasonable and economic but also the reliability and safety of the automatic monitoring system are better. Testing result by the shallow refractive seismic method in tailings reveals that the energy excited by hammering iron sheet-pole is strong enough and safe, and that the character of anti-jamming by the detectors with long tailcone is better. An automatic monitoring technique of the seepage line, including the monitoring design, the automatic monitoring system and the backfill technique of the measuring probe of pore-water pressure, was used in a tailings dam, and a shallow refractive seismic method was investigated for obtaining the The results show that the automatic monitoring has the error within ± 3% relative to piezometric tube method and improves monitoring efficiency greatly, and the shallow refractive seismic method has the error within ± 10% but expands the area of ​​monitoring. Both of them can be used for a daily measurement in monitoring the seepage line. The result of the automatic monitoring also shows that not only the design of the survey line and the backfill technique of the measuring probe of pore-water pressure are reasonable and economic but also the reliability and safety of the automatic monitoring system are better. Testing result by the shallow refractive seismic method in tailings reveals that the energy excited by hammering iron sheet-pole is strong enough and safe, and that the character of anti-jamming by the detectors with long tailcone is better.